胡敏读故事记托福词汇123：不好的开端 Off to a bad start
The new cultural centre was inaugurated with much burning of incese and the delivery of a large number of important speeches. Every foreseeable eventuality had been taken care of, or so the organisers thought. Sadly, however, there were a couple of unfortunate incidents that marred the occasion.
新的文化中心的开幕仪式上点燃了许多熏香，进行了大量重要的演讲。任何可能发生的事情都照顾到了，至少组织者是这么认为的，然而，遗憾的是，一些不幸的事件破坏了仪式。
First of all, the incense that wasw being burned was impure. This led to a high incidence of cases of nausea among people attending the ceremony. Secondly, there was the incessant clutter of the new air-conditioning system that had only just been installed.
首先，正在燃烧的熏香是脏的。这导致参加仪式的人恶心的发生率很高。第二，刚装好的新空调系统连续发生混乱。
Mark brown, a member of the organising committee, felt a sudden impulse to deal with at least some of those problems.”we cannot do much about the impurities in the incense. We shall have to improvise some quick fixes,”he said.
马克。布朗是组委会的一员，他突然感到一阵冲动，要处理其中一些问题。“我们无法对熏香中的杂质做什么，我们必须临时做一些快速补救。”他说。
The workman who was called in to inactivate the air conditioning was an impudent fellow.”the mechanism is quite inaccessible.” He said, “ what if I do myself an injury going in there and become incapacitated? I might even become inanimate—dead, in other words, what’s the incentive for me to go in there? He demanded to know.
被叫来使空调停止转动的工人是一个粗鲁的家伙。“这个机械装置比较不易进入，”他说。“如果我到那里受了伤，致残了，怎么办?我甚至可能变成无生命的—换句话说，死了。我进入那里的动机是什么?他要求知道答案。
Mark brown was incensed. “your behaviour is highly improper!” he said angrily.” You are being much too impulsive! Don’t think you can get away with this with impunity! Just go down there and do your job, my lad, if you don’t mind.”
马克。布朗被激怒了。“你的行为非常不得体!“他生气地说。”你太容易冲动了!别以为你不受处罚就可以这样逃脱了!如果你不介意，只管下去干你的活，小伙子。“
Reluctantly, the workman caved in , but not without a final sting:” are you imputing that it’s me who is responsible for this situation? I certainly hope not , and, imcidentally, that will be 98 pounds, if I do go down there.”
工人不情愿地钻进去了，但最后不忘抬竹杠：“你是不是把现在的烂摊子归咎于我，让我对此负责?我当然希望你不这样想，还有，顺便提一句，如果我下到那里面，那就要98镑。“
